Fastener



March 5, 1940; E. B; FERNBERG 2,192,344

FASTENER Filed Oct, 15, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet. 1

ATTORNEY Mam]! 0- E. B. FERNBERG 2,192,344

FASTENER Filed Oct. 15, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 V INVENTOR .760 13 (.131 Q ER EEQNBERG- ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 5, i940 or a I 2,192,344

UNITE-Di srsrss FASTENER Eric Bil-ger- Fernberg, Pinner, England Applicationbctoher 15, 1936, Serial No. 105,738

In Great Britain August 15, 1936 4 Claims. (01. 16- -4) My invention relates to an improved fastener pered spring steel, designated generally by the for carpets, upholstery and the like. It is of reference numeral H, the strip is bent to form particular value in the automobile industry a ring-shaped head it, portions l3, Id being Where carpets or upholstery panels need to be bent inwardly radially of the ring,, then bent '6' readily removable for cleaning or examination substantially at right angles to the general plane of parts which they conceal. of the ring to form a neck, the two limbs l5, l6

Such fasteners commonly engage with the of which lie in spaced relationship, then formed walls of apertures, small holes in metal panelling into opposed outwardly directed projections H, or floors, and are provided with portions reit and finally bent to present the two prongs siliently mounted of a dimension larger than it, it lying in the same spaced parallel relation- 10 the transverse dimension of theaperturewhereship as the neck limbs 55, it, the ends of the by when the enlarged portion is pressed into prongs l9, it being sharply pointed, as at 2!, 22 the aperture, it yields, passes through, and subto facilitate perforation of the carpet or like sequently recovers the dimension, whereupon material. the enlargement achieves the fastening by lock- Figures 1, 3, 4, 6, 9', 10, 12 and 13 show my 15 ing'with the walls of the aperture or the inner fastener as constituted of one strip of material, walls of the panel or flooring which contains the while Figures 2, 5, 7, 8 and 11 show it constituted aperture. of two or more pieces of material, the one con- My prime object is to provide an improved stituting the head of one shape or another, and such fastener, one which may be used with a the other constituting the prongs. Except that 20 very minimum of damage to the carpet or other the prongs of certain of the forms of the invenfabric, and one which may be produced at a tion are of converging form at the points and in minimum cost, yet which may be applied and some cases the points are joined together, the continued in use with a maximum of efiiciency. differences between the various forms are simply $5 1 form my fastener of narrow relatively thin differences in the shape of a head. The heads strip material, yet stiff enough for the attainare variously shown as circular, square, Z-shaped, 'ment of rigidity where rigidity is required, and heart-shaped, and line form. resiliency where resiliency is required. In the The spaced relationship of the prongs and head the strip is'pressed edgewise, normal to neck limbs ensures that, when the prongs are the plane of the head and hence to the plane of forced through the webbing of a carpet, a pluthe fabric or, carpet. In the prongs the, strip rality of threads will be embraced thereby so' is longitudinal. Moreover, the prongs are paralthat the fastener as a whole cannot be pulled lel and spaced apart both in the points and in through the webbing, by tearing it, but the ring the neck, whereby the piercing of the fabric and portion thereof will embed in the pile of the the ultimate lodgment in the fabric is with a carpet and be substantially invisible. 35 minimum of pressure, a minimum of damage to In the modification of Figure 2, the fastener the fabric or carpet, and a certainty oflodgment is formed in two portions a strip designated in the fabric and interlocking therewith. Prefgenerally by the numeral 23 is bent into the erably the prongs and the neck, lie in the same form of a ring 24, the ends being directed radialparallel planes. These planes are spaced apart ,ly inwardly as at 25,26. The second portion 2'! i0 sufficiently to permit the enlarged portions to also a strip, is bent at substantially its mid-point,

pass through without contact of the parallel poras at 28,, to present asbefore a neck portion, the

tions avoiding tearing of'the fabric. This also limbs 29, 30' of which lie in parallel spaced relasecures a maintenance of that regulated resiliention, then formed with outwardly directed v- .cy achieved in the initial manufacture. shaped projections 31, 32 and finally bent to 45 The invention is illustrated in the accom P t p o gs 33. 3'1 in alignment With the panying drawings of which Figures 1 to 12 are limbs 29, 3d, the prongs being pointed as at 35,

perspective views of several modifications, Fig- 3E.

ure 13 is a side view, with. the head in section The U-portion of the strip 21 createdat the of a further modification, and Figures 14 and 15 bend 28 by the limbs 29, 30 embraces the in- 50 i are views showing the sheet, from which the wardly directed portions 25, 28 of the strip 23, fasteners may be blanked and the blank itself and is secured thereto by, e. g., welding, as indirespectively. I l cated at 31.

According to Figure 1 the fastener comprises According to Figure 3 the strip, designated 5 a single strip of resilient material, such as temgenerally by the numeral 38,, is bent into the form of a ring 39 and in the periphery of the ring is bent downwardly to present a neck portionv as before, the limbs 40, 4| of which are continued into the projections 42, 43 and prongs 44, 45 as'in Figure 1, but the inwardly directed radial arms are dispensed with.

Figure 4 shows the fastener with the head in the form of a square, Figure 5 with the head in the form of a Z, and Figure 6 with the head in the form of a heart. In each case the point and neck portions of the prongs lie in spaced parallel planes as in the instance of the forms of, Figures 1 to 3.

A further modification is shown in Figure5, in which the fastener is formed in two portions, the ring being replaced by a separate strip,

designated generally by the numeral 55 bent to Y the form of a Z, arranged ,on edge, the second portion formed similarly to the second portion of Figure 2, embracing the web 5! of the Z and being spot welded thereto, as indicated at 52. The second portion comprises a strip designated generally by the numeral 53, bent midway along its length as at 54, to present the two parallel spaced limbs 55, 56 of the neck portion, then bent outwardly to form the projections 51, 58 and finally bent to form the prongs 59, 60.

According to Figure 7, the prong portion of the fastener is modified. .The fastener is made in two portions, the one strip designated generally by the numeral BI, is bent into the form of a ring 62 with inwardly directed radial ends 63, 64. The second strip 65 is in the form of an inverted V, being bent sharply as at 66 substantially to a point, the limbs 67, 68 divergin outwardly to 69,75, which form the projections corresponding with the projections Il, I8 of Figure 1 and then bent convergingly to the spaced parallel portions 15,12 arranged to embrace the arms 63, 64 and be spot welded thereto as indicated at I3.

In Figure 8, a ring 14 has welded to it, as at I5,

two independent prong members 16, 17, each formed with projections IS, IS and spacedparallel neck portions. 8!], 8 I.

Figure 9 shows a simple modification of Figure 1, in which the strip, designated generally by the numeral 82, is first bent into the form of a.

ring 83, then inwardly and radially as at 84, then lapped as at 86, N and bent downwardly to present the diverging arms 88, 89 which are bent at 55, SI convergingly so that the pointed ends 92, 93 of the prongs 94, lie closely adjacent each other, whilst according to Figure 10, the strip 95 is bent from one end to the form of a ring 91, commencing with a radial limb 98, then bent inwardly to present a second radial limb 99, paralleling the limb 53, then downwardly to present the one limb IIlIl of the neck portion of the fastener, outwardly at I55 to the point I52, convergingly at I83 to the point I04, then back on itself in a V-bend the limb I05 extending out to the point I66 then at It? towards the limb I50 and finally bent to the other limb I58 of the neck portion in spaced parallel relation to the limb I00, the end of the limb I08 lying closely adjacent, but being free to move with respect to the radial arm 98. v

Figure 11 shows a modification'of Figure 5, in which the prongs I 69, I I5 of the fastener are brought substantially together at their free ends, presenting a V-formation, but otherwise follows closely the construction of Figure 5 and according to Figure 12, the strip III, is bent midway alongits length at I I2 to present ail-shape the outwardly diverging limbs I I 3, I I 4 being bent back at H5, H6 to the converging portions I-IT, II8, v continuing into the spaced parallel limbs I I9, I20

of the neck portion and finally to the outwardly 1 directed arms I2I, I22 disposed on edge with re- I23 of a moulded synthetic resin, 2. portion I 24 of the strip is bent back on itself, then downwardly to present the limbs I25, I26 of the neck portion,

I outwardly for the projections I27, I28 andfinally to the prongs I29, I35, in a similar spaced par- 7 allel relation to the limbs I25, I26.

Figure l l' shows a sheet I3 I, from which a blank I32 has been punched, the prong portions I33, I34

having already been formed at right'angles to' the ring portion I35, whilst Figure 15 shows a strip formed of the ring portion I36 and welded thereto, the prong portions I31, I35 before bending tothe shape for example of Figure 1.

In the foregoing description, the fastener'has been described by itself it being-believed to be r apparent in what manner it will function to se-" cure for'exa'mple a carpet to a sheet metal panel I or the like.

The foregoing describes several forms of the invention, and it will be understood that the in-. vention is capable of further'modification which will fall within thesco-pe of theappended claims. vI'claim: I I

-1. Carpetfastener comprising'a head, anda pair of prongs spaced throughout themain bodies and having distinct point, locking and neck p015- tions, the point portions being-of considerable longitudinal extent and lying insubstantially parallel planes with points spaced apart, the space between the neck portions and the space between I the point portions beingof such dimensionth'at through a fabric may not bring either of them together'with sufficient pressure to tend to tear at the piercings a fabric which is pierced by the points and through which. the enlarged locking portion is passed.

2. Carpet fastener of an integral one-piece fiat strip formation, comprising a head portion in which the fiat width of the strip lies at right angles to the plane ofthe head, and a pair of prongs constituted of the extremities of the fiat strip'and having the fiat length of the strip at substantially right angles to the plane of the head, said prongs having enlarged locking portions constituted by diverting the lengths'of the strips-laterally of the length thereof.

3. Carpet fastener comprising a head of stripmaterial pressed edgewise normal to the plane of the head and prongs-of strip material spaced" substantially parallel planes and spaced apart to such an extent that the enlarged locking portions of the prongs in passing throughout a fabric may not bring them: together with sumcient pressure is pierced by the points and through which thev enlarged portions are passed. ERIC BERGER FERNBERG.

.to tend to tear at the piercings the fabric'which the enlarged portions of the prongs in passing I' 

